Cinderella's Downfall
by Karin Starsen
Summary: Cinderella's not too bright, but neither is her eldest step sister! The classic Cinderella story with a twist. Disclaimer: I do NOT OWN CINDERELLA!


Cinderella's Downfall

By Hannah Blood

Cinderella burst into the luminescent ballroom. She looked around, admiring the gold walls and crystal chandelier. There were hundreds of people in the room, so it looked full to capacity. Few people turned their heads from what they were doing to watch her come elegantly down the stairs, her iridescent blonde hair was up in a bun letting a few curly locks to cascade down her neck. She had a large, flowing blue dress and a pair of enchanting glass slippers.

_Now, where is the prince? _Cinderella thought. _Ah! There he is! _She had spotted him across the room dancing with her elder step-sister. _Oh. My. Gosh, _she thought. _He's smiling!__ We will see how long that will last!_

She started across the room, ignoring the men asking her to dance. She had her sites set on the prince. Once she got there, she waited impatiently for the song to end. _Surely once he sees me he will ask me to dance,_ she thought. Yet once the song ended his eyes passed over her and he again started dancing with her step-sister. Cinderella started becoming angry when she saw her younger step-sister standing next to her. Her younger step-sister admired her and followed her around often.

"You're late. Why aren't you dancing with the prince?" she asked Cinderella.

Cinderella pouted then said, "He mustn't have seen me yet. I'm sure that once the song is over that..." but it was already too late. The song had ended and a new one had started and once more the prince and Cinderella's elder step-sister were dancing.

Cinderella got so angry that she ran outside to the steps as the clock started to strike midnight. She ran all the way home, but lost one of her shoes on the steps as she went. _I never liked those wretched shoes anyway, _Cinderella thought. _They pinched my toes._

Once Cinderella got home, her step-sister left the ballroom with the prince following her like a dog and its master. The step-sister finally peeled him off and he noticed the shoe. Realizing that he hadn't asked her name, he decided that this could be her shoe. He decided to find her tomorrow and ask her to marry him, for he needed a bride before the next week or he could not be king. What he did not realize was that this was Cinderella's shoe, not the girl he danced with.

Cinderella's younger step-sister had watched all of this from the bushes. She ran home to tell Cinderella about the shoe and what the prince was planning. She had a plan that could get Cinderella married to the prince.

"Cinderella! Cinderella!" cried the younger step-sister. "I have good news!"

"I'm sure no news would be good tonight," Cinderella moaned, but she listened anyway.

With each word that her young step-sister spoke, Cinderella's eyes widened. _It's so perfect! _She thought._ Why did I not think of this myself?_

The next day

There was a loud knock on the door and Cinderella bustled over. Earlier that morning, she had sent her elder step-sister to the market to fetch some bread for dinner. She told her to take as long as she wanted, secretly hoping that she would lose her way and not make it back.

Cinderella graciously threw open the door and there stood the prince. Once she saw him, she curtsied and let him inside. She curtsied again and said, "Your majesty! What a lovely surprise!" She had practiced saying that all night long until the words seemed perfect.

"Yes, I am here on a quest for my bride. You see, the one I danced with last night left her shoe behind and..."

"Why! That was me!" Cinderella interrupted.

The prince smiled and handed her the shoe. He wasn't the... 'smartest' of princes, and he was said to be a bit nearsighted at times, so he didn't notice that this was not the girl he danced with. Yet he did wonder why her hair was blonde and not brown. _It must have been the lighting,_ he thought. Cinderella put the shoe on elegantly and it fit perfectly. This was enough proof for the prince, plus he didn't want to delay the wedding that must take place in order for him to be king, so the prince stood up and took Cinderella's hand. They walked to the castle together to arrange the wedding.

The younger step-sister had watched the scene from behind the door. When her older sister came home, she ran over and told her all that had happened. The elder sister became enraged at how Cinderella had betrayed her. She started running toward the castle. The youngest step-sister followed anxiously.

When the step-sisters got to Cinderella's wedding, they were already at the 'I-dos.' The elder step-sister ran down the aisle screaming, "I object! I object!"

"Why, elder step-sister! What is wrong?" Cinderella asked with suppressed anger.

"You stole him! You stole my husband! How could you?"

And at that, the two step-sisters began fighting violently. They punched each other and scratched at each others faces. They ripped at each other's hair and kicked as hard as they could at the other's shins. Nobody in the audience moved toward the bloody mass of horror in front of them, they all just watched and tried to take in what was going on. And since nobody did try to stop them, they fought so much, that they had killed each other. The prince ran over with tears in his eyes. He had realized his mistake and now new that he had chosen the wrong girl. Now because of it, both of the girls he had wanted to marry were laying there dead in front of him. He sat down and began to cry.

Now, the younger step-sister was still there. She had watched the whole thing and smiled. She walked to the prince and told him the whole story, including how she had betrayed both sister and step-sister. The prince actually smiled and said, "You, my dear, are very clever. You shall be my new wife!" He thought, _if someone is so clever to think of a plan such as this, then they must be good enough to be a queen in the castle._

She took his hand and they walked side by side down the aisle to get married. They were both very happy, but the new queen was happier then the new king. Everyday she would wake up and smile thinking, _my plan worked perfectly, _then go about the day without one regret in her mind about the horrible things she had done to her sisters. And so, she lived happily ever after.

**The moral of the story is: **Think of your own plan!


End file.
